


Raise My Serotonin (And My Heart Rate)

by JHopeissoOMG



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Christmas, Everyone is anxious but cute, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Making Out, Mutual Pining, Pining, Soft Corpse Husband (Video Blogging RPF), Soft Sykkuno (Video Blogging RPF), Texting, corpsekkuno, everyone ships it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28230276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JHopeissoOMG/pseuds/JHopeissoOMG
Summary: When Sykkuno realizes Corpse has no holiday plans, he builds up the courage to ask if he would like to hang out and exchange gifts. Corpse and Sykkuno meet up for the first time in person and unsurprisingly, sparks fly. Who will make the first move, and, more importantly, and can they find a way to troll their friends at the same time?!
Relationships: Corpse Husband/Sykkuno (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 74
Kudos: 777
Collections: Corpsekkuno Fic Exchange: Holidays 2020 edition!





	1. You Raise My Serotonin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bugselfs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bugselfs/gifts).



“Alright guys, we’re playing some Among Us today! I think we’re going to start with the regular way and then switch over to proximity as soon as everyone gets here!” Sykkuno exclaims, his character popping into the lobby as he announces himself in Discord. He immediately hears a chorus of “SYKKUNOOOOOO!” at varying pitches as the group welcomes him. Even now, after streaming for as long as he has, hearing his friends sound genuinely excited when he joins a game feels exhilarating. He unmutes himself to say hello back as everyone screams to one another about the plans for tonight and who they can get as fills when people switch out for dinner and other priorities. Sykkuno is comforted by their voices, nearly indistinguishable as everyone talks over one another.

He checks the levels on his sound and adjusts according to the chat’s recommendations, pausing to take a few minutes to respond to questions while everyone works on their stream setup. 

“Who are we playing with? Well, everyone in the lobby so far! I don’t know who else we’re expecting to be honest, I didn’t set this lobby up.”

His Discord pings, notifying him that Rae has sent the bubbles for the stream, and checks in that everyone is ready to go. His eyes attempt to dart back to his chat as he gets Discord working and responds to some of the more persistent questions.

“Yep. We’re going to be streaming for a few hours tonight guys. Among Us, maybe some Minecraft later, depends on how long we go.” His eyes drift over the never-ending chat, text scrolling out of his vision faster than he can read it, even with slow mode on.

“Corpse? Yeah, I think…I think Corpse is joining us. He’s not here yet but I think Rae said he was in for tonight.” Sykkuno pauses as he fiddles with another setting, muttering mostly to himself, “I gotta ask him when I can drop off his present, I forgot about that.” He says it offhandedly, more a note to himself than a statement, but his chat unsurprisingly latches on.

_CORPSE?! HE’S PLAYING!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!_

_YOU GOT HIM A PRESENT OMG_

_WHOLESOME AF_

_WHY CAN’T I GET SYKKUNO TO GET ME PRESENTS!?!?_

_DID YOU GET HIM CAT EARS_

_IS IT A MAID COSTUME?_

_OMG TELL US WHAT YOU GOT CORPSE FOR CHRISTMAS!!!_

Sykkuno turns back to his chat, eyes widening at the constant caps-locked comments thrown his way.

“Whoa, whoa guys,” he says, chucking, his hand shifting to cover his mouth as per usual. “It’s nothing special, everyone relax! I just saw something that made me think of him, that’s all! Just a little gift for my friend. Everyone gets their friends gifts for Christmas, right?” He asks, grinning.

He should say more. He’s not exactly sure what to say to his chat when Corpse is involved if he’s honest. They all love Corpse so much - which makes sense! Who wouldn’t? But sometimes it feels like his friendship with Corpse is all people are in his chat for, and that makes him nervous. And to be frank, he’s already nervous about what he’s saying 75% of the time. His brain is always fighting him on whether it’s better to lean into it and play their friendship up to make his chat happy, or if doing so would just encourage them to overstep more often. He’s searching for something to say, pretending he’s messing with his settings again when, thankfully, Rae jumps in to save him.

“Alright guys! Corpse just said he’s on his way, he’s setting up his stream, so let’s just do a round with nine while we wait for him!!!” Rae is always one of Sykkuno’s favorite things about playing Among Us with this group. She’s always loud, always chatty and high-spirited, constantly willing to set up lobbies and get everyone together. Sykkuno is really lucky to have a friend like her; someone who always goes out of her way to include him.

The game starts and Sykkuno finds himself as a crewmate, so he mutes his chat and tries his best to get back into the Among Us groove. It’s been a few days since playing with this group and he begins going through the motions and working on tasks.

“Alright guys, we’re just crewmate this round, so let’s get these tasks done! We can wait to troll until we turn proximity on, how about that? Give everyone a sense of security to start and then we can trick ‘em!”

Two meetings later, Sykkuno is dead and floating around dead chat with Edison, Peter, and Poki while Rae, Toast, Leslie, Jodi, and Ludwig chase one another across the map. Sykkuno takes a moment to check chat but at the very moment his eyes flick over, he sees Corpse sign into Discord. He plays it cool to the best of his abilities, trying not to let chat notice anything, but inside he’s already excited to get to talk to Corpse again today. It’s been a few days since they’ve played anything together and he’s fully aware he always seems to get more subs and viewers when they’re playing at the same time. He’s not entirely sure why people love their friendship so much but he’s thankful that they do. He’s generally grateful for Corpse’s existence overall. He’s so lucky to have such cool friends.

The game ends quickly, Rae and Toast going into full serial killer mode and taking everyone out without too much work. The moment they head back into the lobby to set up proximity, Corpse is already unmuted in Discord and ready for the code.

The lobby explodes with a chorus of hellos at Corpse’s arrival, as does Sykkuno’s chat. He almost wishes he had a bot to just tell people in his chat if Corpse is streaming so they stop asking over and over again, but what can you do?

“Hello, friends.” Corpse’s bass tone reverberates through Sykkuno’s headphones and he quickly reminds himself he’s streaming live and not to close his eyes and listen. He does that sometimes, when he’s alone at night and not streaming. He pulls up one of Corpse’s streams on his phone, or a compilation off of YouTube, and lays in bed in the darkness to listen to Corpse talk about nothing and run around in Among Us. Even if Sykkuno played with him that day, sometimes it’s just calming to hear his voice. With the amount of anxiety Sykkuno contains daily, somehow Corpse’s voice makes it dissipate, even if only for a little while. Having something to focus on helps, and Sykkuno is happy to focus his energy on listening to Corpse in games rather than fixating on what not to say.

As Rae guides everyone through the usual proximity chat tech issues, Ludwig and the gang take turns asking Corpse random questions about what he’s been up to lately, Sykkuno being the last to get his words in. He always tries to let his friends speak first, happy enough that they want him to play, but he doesn’t want Corpse to think he’s ignoring him either. He waits for a comfortable pause in the chatter before jumping in.

“Corpse! I’m glad you’re playing with us today!”

Sykkuno grins softly as he hears Corpse chuckle in response.

“Hello, Sykkuno. It’s been too long since we played together. Like a whole three days.”

“It feels like ages!” Sykkuno offers earnestly. “Phantasmophbia was fun though. Scary but fun.”

“Amigops 4 lyfeeeeee.” Corpse’s voice drops even lower as he makes the joke and Sykkuno makes a mental note of how long he’s been streaming so he can listen to that interaction over and over again tonight.

The conversation trails off as Rae jumps in screaming “TEST TEST! EVERYONE TALK! IS IT WORKING?!!?” The lobby screams back and forth until it’s decided that yes, holy shit it is working and now everyone has a headache. Rae cheers as the first game begins.

An hour later, Sykkuno is doing pretty well on his ‘imposter win to being mercilessly killed by his best friend’s’ ratio. He and Rae have an awesome Babushka round, he and Toast win their round (mostly because Corpse refused to vote Sykkuno off despite 100% seeing him vent) and even he and Corpse manage to win their round despite running around screaming BINGUS for the majority of it. 

As Rae pulls up a new code to change the map to Mira, Poki pipes up.

“Just a heads up, guys, we have to end in about an hour. We’re recording a Secret Santa thing for Offline tonight!”

“Oooh, that sounds fun!” Jodi squeals.

“I’m so excited!” Floats in Lily’s high-pitched voice. “I can’t wait until….someone sees what I got for them!”

“Lily, I swear to God, Scarra will lose it if you ruin the surprise,” says Toast, “So you should absolutely ruin it for everyone and say it now.”

“Shut up, Toast!” Lily and Poki yell in unison.

Laughs ring through the lobby, Sykkuno muting to talk to his chat.

“Wow, that sounds like fun! I can’t wait to see what they all got one another. I feel bad for whoever Toast had, he probably got them a meme gift. Maybe some actual toast!” Sykkuno giggles, listening in on his friends’ conversation while he takes a sip of his now cold coffee.

“I can’t wait for Christmas to be over. Leslie wakes me up every morning singing Mariah Carey and I can’t take it any longer,” Peter groans.

“Oh, shut up, I am a goddess! Right, Edison?!” Leslie retorts.

Edison is questionably quiet and the lobby breaks into giggles at his silence.

“EDISOOOOOOOON!!!!!” Leslie yells, loud enough for Peter to hear from the other side of their house.

“Oh, someone is in fucking TROUBLE, BOYS!!” Ludwig joins in, screeching.

There’s a rustling on someone’s microphone as Edison returns, scrambling.

“Sorry I was AFK. What did I miss?” There’s a beat of silence before everyone bursts into giggles again, poor Edison completely lost.

“Nothing man, don’t worry about it. Just play it cool. And you better get Leslie an extra Christmas present, that’s all I’m saying.” Ludwig offers.

“…how badly did I just fuck up?” Edison asks.

Corpse’s laugh is the first to break out and soon everyone is beside themselves laughing at Edison’s expense.

“I hate all of you,” Edison mutters through the cacophony as Jodi attempts to steer everyone back to a somewhat normal decibel level.

“Well, you guys have fun at the shoot then today! What about everyone else, anyone else have Christmas plans?”

“QT and I are hanging with the roomies, maybe doing some streams, the usual!” Ludwig answers.

“Same, going to see Edison’s family on Christmas Eve and mine on Christmas Day!” Adds Leslie.

Lily jumps in next. “What about you, Corpse? Any holiday plans?”

The juxtaposition between Lily’s sing-song, high-pitched voice, and Corpse’s deep tones, makes Sykkuno smile. He really should ask Lily if she and Corpse could make a song together for real; their voices are too fantastic to not combine.

“Nah. I might stream for a bit if there’s anyone else around but I don’t really do holidays. Definitely don’t see my family. Probably order some food, work on music, and stay up all night like always,” Corpse replies.

“Oh, well I’m sure some of us will be free to put something together! We only open presents and stuff in the morning, I’m usually free later in the day if you’re down!” Rae chimes in, clearly attempting to mask any awkwardness.

Sykkuno notices the small change in Corpse’s voice, though he’s not sure if he feels sorry for Corpse for having nothing going on or if he’s spending the holidays alone by choice. The last thing Sykkuno wants to do is overstep and make Corpse feel uncomfortable by asking if he wants company. Christmas is a thing at his house, but it’ll likely be the same as every year; opening presents with his family in the morning, eating food later in the afternoon, and having the night to himself. Maybe Corpse will want to hang out or stream with him.

As the next round of proximity begins, Poki yells over the general chatter.

“Hey, on the subject of Christmas, anyone hoping to get anything cool this year?”

“My only Christmas wish is for the Warcraft servers to go down long enough for Edison to actually concentrate on wedding planning,” Leslie says jokingly.

A chorus of ‘OOOOH!’ overtakes the group as Leslie laughs.

“Listen, it was a very important raid!” Edison argues to no avail.

“How you got a fiancé I will never know man,” interjects Peter. “If you love WOW so much, why don’t you marry it?!”

“You can’t marry inanimate objects, Peter. At least not legally,” Jodi retorts.

“Oh, Peter knows that. Otherwise, he would have married his hand years ago,” Edison offers to another chorus of “OHHHHH!!!!” in response.

“Why do I consistently come to these lobbies when I just get bullied? This is Stockholm syndrome or something.”

“OKAY! Anyone want anything for Christmas that doesn’t include the destruction of someone in this lobby?” Poki asks.

“POKEMON CARDS!” Screams Ludwig, his character doing figure eights around the huddled group.

“Four million subscribers on YouTube so I can be rich,” adds Toast to a chorus of boos. “Well, richer.”

“God, you are all morons. What about you Sykkuno? What do you want for Christmas?” Rae asks.

“I’m sure someone on Etsy makes SIMP pins, maybe we should all get one and give Sykkuno a group picture,” Lily suggests. Sykkuno isn’t sure who it is, but someone immediately begins smashing on their keyboard, probably looking for that very thing.

Sykkuno clears his throat, ready to troll the group.

“Well, you know what I’d really want for Christmas? My grandma’s been watching all these Hallmark movies and they’re kinda nice. I think it would be nice to have a date on Christmas, wouldn’t that be fun? But! As we all know, girls aren’t-"

“I swear to god if you finish that sentence Sykkuno I am going to strangle you,” Peter says menacingly.

The lobby laughs along with Sykkuno and Peter, Leslie muttering something about having a murderer for a housemate.

Muting the lobby, Sykkuno turns to speak to his chat. “This joke will never die. Peter gets so annoyed, it’s great!” Sykkuno admits, listening to his friends once again.

“What I said about guys liking you still stands, Sykkuno! I can get you a Christmas date regardless of gender!” Edison offers.

“Oh, Jesus, I was just joking guys! I don’t care about all that stuff! I can’t believe you believed me!”

Sykkuno can barely hear any full sentences as everyone screams over one another, either defending Sykkuno or attempting to set him up.

“Guys, guys, all I need for Christmas is right here! Your friendship!!”

There is a beat of silence before the entire lobby groans.

“Jesus, Sykkuno, you’re not Tiny Tim, this isn’t the fucking Muppets Christmas Carol. It’s okay to want other things!” Peter exclaims.

“…Let’s be real though, Sykkuno would make an excellent Muppet. He’s already green! He’s our Kermit!” Ludwig adds.

“I WANT TO BE GONZO” Rae screams.

“I GET TO BE RIZZO THEN.” Chimes in Poki.

“Peter is clearly both Statler and Waldorf,” pipes in Lily’s high-pitched voice.

“Because I’m hilarious and sarcastic?”

“No, because you’ve got one foot in the grave old man,” Toast supplies to ruckus laughter.

“I swear to God I hate every one of you fucking kids.”

Sykkuno is glad the attention is off him for a bit and that he made all his friends laugh like this. He always feels the proudest and at his absolute best when his friends laugh at his jokes, even if he is the butt of them.

“HEY!”

Everyone goes silent as Corpse yells into the chat. A few beats of silence pass before Corpse speaks.

“You guys always stop to listen to me, so clearly I’m Miss Piggy. Best Muppet. Deadass.”

Another beat of silence passes before Rae screeches again.

“GONZO IS SO MUCH BETTER.”

Unsurprisingly, the lobby descends into chaos. Sykkuno leans back in his chair, muting his mic as he laughs hard at his friends arguing over their choice of Muppet. It’s a ridiculous conversation, one he couldn’t have dreamed up in a million years, and he is so pleased that this weird and wacky group of people considers him a friend. He’s so, so lucky. And maybe he is really enjoying the mental image of tall, dark, and deep-voiced Corpse as the Miss Piggy to his Kermit the Frog.

Roughly an hour later, half the lobby has to head to the Offline shoot and the group disbands while already making plans to stream together later in the week. It’s not too late, only around 8 pm, but Sykkuno decides he’s done streaming for the day. It’s been a great stream, he could hardly breathe because he was laughing so hard at some points, so he chooses to end it on a high. As he says goodbye to everyone and does his normal sign-off before closing the stream, he remembers he never asked Corpse when he would be around to drop off his gift. His Discord still shows Corpse as online, and fueled by his joyful high from the stream, he leaps to grab his phone and text Corpse before losing his nerve. 

_Hey Corpse!_ _☺_

 _Hello Sykkuno._ _☺ Stream was fun today._

_It was, wasn’t it!? I need to clip that Muppet conversation, Peter is going to hate it. It was so funny!_

_Yeah everyone got him good tonight._

_You said something on stream I wanted to talk to you about…_

_Oh shit, what did I do?_

_Nothing! Nothing bad!_

_You just mentioned you weren’t doing anything for Christmas!_

_And it reminded me that I, uh_

_…You what Sykkuno?_

_Oh, this sounds awkward now._

_It’s all good Sykkuno, what’s up?_

_I, um._

_I got you a present. If that’s okay? If not I can take it back._

_You got me a present? Like…for Christmas?_

_Really?_

_Yeah! I just saw this thing and it reminded me of you._

_That’s not weird, is it?_

_No Sykkuno. No, it’s not weird at all._

_I got you something too._

_Really?!!?_

_That’s so nice of you! Oh man, I am so lucky to have a great friend like you Corpse!_

_Yeah, you’re a great friend too Sykkuno_ _☺_

_Anyway, I remember you saying you didn’t have plans for Christmas but I have to do things with my family on Christmas day._

_….alright?_

_But um. If you’re free before Christmas maybe I can come over? And drop off your gift? We could hang out or something. Or I could just leave it on your doorstep if you’re not comfortable with that! Whatever makes you feel best I’m happy to do!!_

When the three dots indicating typing don’t automatically appear as they had until now, Sykkuno panics, stands from his desk, and begins to pace the room. He’s really hoping he hasn’t pushed Corpse too far, he knows he’s a private person. He just wants them to be friends. Well, he wants them to be much more, but he isn’t going to say that out loud to anyone. Not even Rae or Toast. That’s only for him to know and daydream about because it will never happen in a million years. The last thing he wants is for his friends to find out about his stupid little crush and pity him because it will never work out. He stays rooted in place, staring at his phone and mulling over what to say to fix this when his phone starts making noise.

His ringtone. Someone is calling him.

Oh, poop. Corpse is calling him.

“Hello?” He says into the phone, moving to climb into his bed and brace for the inevitable rejection of friendship.

“Hey, Sykkuno.”

For all of the times he’s heard Corpse’s voice in his headphones, something about hearing his voice over the phone feels different. Sykkuno finds himself becoming more aware of everything about Corpse, from the small shake in his voice to the sound of his breath after he speaks. It almost feels intimate, like this is the calm before the storm ahead.

“Um. I’m sorry if I said something wrong. I just thoug-”

“No, no, Sykkuno. You didn’t say anything wrong. I just was overwhelmed for a minute there.”

“Oh.”

Silence passes between the two, each waiting for the other to speak first.

“Um. I actually would love that. If you came over and stuff. I don’t know how I’ll feel on the day, y’know sometimes I get flare-ups and stuff but-”

“Anytime! If we have to reschedule or something that’s okay with me. I just want to make sure you feel comfortable with us seeing one another and stuff. “

“Yeah, yeah. I do! I do. I’ve, uh, I’ve thought about it a lot. Us meeting, I mean. It feels like we should, right? Like we’re friends. I trust you. There’s no reason why we can’t meet up.”

“Oh! Oh, great. Um. Yeah. What day works for you? I can drive to meet with you, if that works best.”

“Yeah, it would be better if you came down here...Wait. You drive?”

Sykkuno laughs down the phone at that, momentarily thinking he can hear Corpse’s breath hitch but doesn’t dignify his daydream as a possibility.

“Yeah, I do. I just never had a reason to when I lived with everyone but now that I’m back at home I have a car again. So me driving down isn’t a problem! I’m really excited. Is there a day that works best for you?”

“Uh yeah. Yeah. How does Sunday work for you? I don’t usually stream on Sunday and I have some recording to do for the next song this week so, uh, my voice should be good by Sunday. Be kinda pointless to make you drive down here if I can’t talk.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t mind, Corpse! As long as we can hang out, we could be silent the whole time and I would still have fun!”

Sykkuno throws himself back onto his back in bed, resting on the pillows as he listens to Corpse chuckle down the phone at him.

“You’re the fucking best, Sykkuno. Just…the best, you know that?”

Sykkuno is glad this conversation is happening as a phone call because if he was streaming right now he’d be embarrassed by the blush burning across his face. How Corpse could just say something like that, telling him he’s the best, can send Sykkuno into a blushing mess is ridiculous.

“I…well I don’t think so but thank you, Corpse. You’re the best too, honestly. Everything is more fun when you play with me!” Sykkuno offers, hoping Corpse believes him.

“I feel the same way. But yeah, does Sunday work for you?”

“Uh hold on, let me check my incredibly packed calendar.”

Sykkuno goes silent for half a second before speaking again.

“Oh, would you look at that, literally nothing planned for weeks and weeks. It’s almost like I just stay home and do nothing. Turns out I’m free! Also, I don’t have a calendar.”

He giggles into the phone, lifting his hand to cover his face out of habit despite Corpse not being able to see him. Corpse full-on laughs at his joke and Sykkuno can feel his face hurt from smiling so much.

“Oh, Sykkuno.”

Sykkuno giggles down the phone as Corpse fake chastises him. It’s nice speaking to Corpse like this. There’s no pretense, no need to put on a show for everyone watching and in chat. No need to worry about what will be clipped and reworked out of context into someone else’s YouTube video. This is for them and them only, and Sykkuno finds himself hoping they get to have more of these moments in the future.

“I’m joking! But I am free on Sunday. Text me the address and time and I’ll see you then?”

Sykkuno’s heart is beating out of his chest at the mere idea of going to meet up with Corpse. He can’t believe this is real and not one of his nightly daydreams but the voice on the other end of the line keeps him grounded in reality.

“Yeah, I’ll message you this weekend. I’m glad we met, Sykkuno.”

“Me too, Corpse. Me too. Well, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were going to do with your night if you want? I don’t want to keep you, I know you said you were tired and hungry and stuff.”

“Oh, right, right. Yeah. Yeah, I am. I just don’t have the energy to get up and get anything yet.”

“Oh. Oh, are you lying down?”

“Yeah. Resting my eyes a bit after playing for so long helps sometimes.”

“Right, that makes sense.”

Sykkuno closes his own eyes, imagining what Corpse might look like in the same position, eyes closed, sprawled across his bed. He wonders if Corpse has ever imagined him in this position the way Sykkuno has.

“Do you want me to…”

Sykkyno can’t ignore the sound of Corpse’s breath hitch this time. He hears it, clear as day.

“Do I want you to do what, Sykkuno?”

Sykkuno isn’t sure if Corpse’s voice actually drops lower than it already is or if it’s just in his head but god, Corpse is…sexy. He can’t deny it. Hearing him speak with his voice like that sends Sykkuno into a spiral he knows he shouldn’t fall into but can’t deny.

“Would you like me to stay on the phone with you for a while? Maybe it’ll help you rest?”

There’s a beat of silence before Corpse replies and Sykkuno knows him well enough to tell he’s smiling as he speaks.

“Yeah. Yeah, Sy. Please stay on the phone. I might be able to sleep.”

“Oh. Yeah, of course. Should I just be quiet or-”

“No! No just like, talk. About whatever. Your voice is soothing. It gives me serotonin, like I said, but I think it might help me sleep tonight.”

“Oh. Sure! Um so…oh, I took Bimbus on a walk today! You’ll have to meet him sometime. Maybe I can bring him to meet you if we hang out again. Like if we do this more often. Bimbus loves everyone so I’m sure you’ll love him too! Anyway, I got some Starbucks and I found this little dog park a few blocks away, so we went there for a while…”

The next morning, Sykkuno’s phone tells him that he and Corpse spent three hours, forty-one minutes, and seventeen seconds on the phone. He’s not sure how much of it he was awake for, or when exactly Corpse fell asleep, but he does know he wakes up refreshed and feeling like a whole new person.

When Corpse joins the Among Us lobby later that night and announces he slept through the night for the first time in weeks, Sykkuno has to turn his camera off and give an excuse about a loose cord.


	2. And My Heart Rate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sykkuno and Corpse finally meet in person!

At 7 am Sykkuno wakes, shivering with anticipation and joyful anxiety. His normal nervousness is gone and in its stead is an unnatural feeling of excitement as he takes Bimbus for an extra-long, extra-early walk around the neighborhood. He desperately attempts to listen to music and calm himself, but every song, unsurprisingly, reminds him of Corpse. Love songs? _Corpse_. Sad songs? _Corpse._ Even instrumentals send him reeling into a daydream about the deep tones of Corpse’s voice and how his voice would sound partnered with Sykkuno’s bass guitar. He wonders for a moment if this is what people in movies mean when they feel all-consumed by something. Corpse has managed to slither his way into Sykkuno’s entire being, rather than just his heart.

After returning with Bimbus he checks Corpse’s address in Google Maps five times before venturing out, double and triple-checking the average distance and time it will take to get there. Corpse allowing him to come over - even though he’s not big on meeting up with people - means a lot, and he’s not going to risk being late and making Corpse worry. Leaving with plenty of time to spare, Sykkuno stops for a coffee on the way once he knows he’s making good time, picking up a Cinnamon Raisin bagel for Corpse as well. He’s sure Corpse mentioned liking them once during an Among Us game, so picking one up with his coffee seems like the right move. It doesn’t take him long to get close to Corpse’s place, and Sykkuno finds himself pulling up in front of the address fifteen minutes early. Sykkuno takes a moment to gather himself and breathe, texting Rae for a last-minute boost of confidence and announcing his arrival.

YOU’VE GOT THIS SYKKUNO!!! CORPSE IS GOING TO LOVE HIS GIFT! JUST BE YOURSELF AND LET YOURSELF HAVE FUN! DON’T WORRY!!! WE ALL LOVE YOU

Rae always knows just what he needs to hear. He takes her words to heart and summons up the courage to turn off the car and text Corpse.

_Hey Corpse!_ _J I think I’m outside the right house, is it okay to come in?_

_Hey Sykkuno! Yeah, I think I see you._

He’s ready for him. Sykkuno allows himself one more deep breath before he gathers up Corpse’s bagel and his gift from the passenger seat, slides out of his car and walks up the path to Corpse’s front door.

He’s not sure what kind of place he expected Corpse to live in, he never really imagined the building, so the low-key beige house seems to fit the bill. Sykkuno probably would have never guessed this house would be Corpse’s until he sees the simple black and white doormat that reads GO AWAY. Yep. Definitely Corpse’s place. He shifts the items in his arms to reach for the doorbell at the exact moment Corpse pulls open the door. Sykkuno tells himself not to stare, he’s seen Corpse’s face a few times during video chats with a few choice people (and alone several nights this week), but seeing it in person feels entirely different. He’s sure Corpse can see the blush on his face as his eyes roam over Corpse’s mask-covered face, taking in his simple black eyepatch and wavy hair. He somehow looks even better in person, and Sykkuno immediately contemplates kissing him before pushing away the notion.

He’s never seen Corpse in person before, not standing in front of one another like this, and he supposes in all the daydreams he’s had he’s also never really contemplated Corpse’s height. He remembers him saying he and Sykkuno were roughly the same height, but Corpse has a little bit of a height advantage on Sykkuno. He’s not sure why that makes him feel some type of way, but knowing he has to look up just a bit to meet Corpse’s eyes and that Corpse will be looking down at him makes Sykkuno’s heart pound.

“Oh gosh, um. Hi Corpse!” Sykkuno tries his best to make his voice sound as normal as possible despite the pulsing sound of blood rushing through his ears.

“Hello, Sykkuno.” Corpse replies and Sykkuno can tell he’s smiling. Hearing Corpse say his name in person adds a whole new level of appreciation for its tone. “Come in.”

Sykkuno stumbles through the door of Corpse’s place, catching his shoulder on the doorframe.

“Eeh. Oops!” He mutters under his breath as he straightens himself out, missing the way Corpse’s expression softens at his voice.

“Sorry,” Corpse says as he gestures around his living room. “It’s not like, nice or anything. I cleaned up a bit though so nothing is dirty and stuff. I just ran out of time to make it look nice.”

Sykkuno doesn’t know what Corpse means by that but nods his head along. Corpse’s place looks great to him. Sure, it’s a bit dark with all the blinds and curtains closed, only one small lamp illuminating the room, but there’s nothing wrong with that in his eyes. It makes everything feel quite cozy and warm. As Sykkuno’s eyes scan the room, he spies a pile of lights and decorations off to one corner.

“Oh! Were you going to decorate for the holiday? You have a lot of lights there.” He asks Corpse.

Corpse sighs, rubbing at the back of his neck with his right hand.

“Yeah, I thought I could like, I dunno, hang lights or do something relatively normal but then they all got tangled so I gave up.” He admits, snorting.

“Oh. Well, that’s nothing we can’t fix! I’m pretty good at getting knots and stuff out, I always have to do it for my sister’s necklaces. Maybe we can untangle them together and hang them up? I bet if we pinned them up in the corners of the room it’d be nice. And it would give you more light without hurting your eyes!” Sykkuno exclaims as he thinks his plan through, looking around the room to imagine how it, and mostly Corpse, would look when illuminated in the soft glow of fairy lights.

“Fuck.”

Sykkuno’s head whips back to meet Corpse’s eyes at his words.

“Or um, if that’s not cool then-“

“NO! No, it definitely is cool. I just wasn’t expecting you to suggest that is all. I’m down.”

Sykkuno feels warmth spread over him at Corpse’s words.

“Sounds good!”

There’s a moment of silence, but not an uncomfortable one. It feels as though they’re both still trying to adjust to the fact that they’re standing here, finally in front of one another after so long.

“Um. I really like your hair by the way.” Sykkuno admits, fighting the urge to cover his mouth in embarrassment.

“…you do?”

“Yeah!” Sykkuno continues. “I mean I know I’ve seen it before but it looks nice in person. Curly.” Sykkuno is immediately embarrassed the minute it leaves his mouth, laughing out of awkwardness.

Corpse chuckles and his eyes crinkle at the sides as he looks at Sykkuno.

“Thanks, Sy. I like yours too. It’s sorta weird being together huh? Weird, but really nice. I forgot you’re like the same height as me. It’s cool.”

“It sure is!” Sykkuno replies, unsure as to how else to answer.

“So…did you have something you wanted to do today? Or did you just want your gift…” Sykkuno asks, desperately hoping that Corpse wants to hang out for longer than just a gift exchange.

“Oh yeah. I, uh, haven’t eaten anything yet today. There’s a Starbucks up the street if you want to just get something and chill for a bit.” Corpse suggests.

“Sounds good to me. Oh, that reminds me…” Sykkuno shifts, placing Corpse’s wrapped present down next to the lights in the corner of the room, and reaching for the small bagel bag.

“I stopped for coffee on the way here and got you a bagel! It’s definitely cold now and we’re already going to Starbucks so it’s probably pointless but it would be a waste to not give it to you right?” Sykkuno blurts out, all in one breath.

Corpse reaches out, taking the bagged bagel from Sykkuno’s hand, his fingers lightly sliding over Sykkuno’s in the process. If he notices Sykkuno shiver a bit, he says nothing as he pulls the bagel close to him.

“Oh shit. This is so nice. Thank you Sykkuno. I’ll leave it in the kitchen, it’ll be perfect for when I’m starving at 4 am.”

Sykkuno smiles as Corpse heads out to the kitchen, giving himself a minute to take his phone out and let Rae know that so far everything is going well. He carelessly swipes away notifications on his phone until he sees a bunch of missed messages from Discord. He opens the app and sees his friends asking if he’s up for a few games of Among Us tonight. He takes a second to reply, not wanting to seem rude if it shows he was online and never responded.

_I can’t play tonight guys! Corpse and I are actually hanging out so I don’t think he’ll be able to play either, depends on how long I stay over for! Tomorrow though for sure!!!!_ _J_

Sykkuno slides his phone back into his pocket just as Corpse wanders back, pulling on a leather jacket and removing a black beanie from its pocket.

“You good to go?” He asks Sykkuno as he pulls the beanie on, errant curls peeking out to escape.

“Yeah!” Sykkuno replies.

Sykkuno waits on the sidewalk as Corpse locks up, following along when Corpse indicates which direction to go in. They make small talk as they wander, Corpse asking about Sykkuno’s drive and how it went, and rehashing memories from last week’s streams.

“I’m telling you Sy, Babushka is cursed. We accidentally unlocked something evil with that whole thing, I think we’re being haunted. It’s fucking awesome.”

Sykkuno laughs hard, not bothering to cover his face since it’s just he and Corpse. Corpse pulls open the door at the entrance of Starbucks and with the angle they approached from, Sykkuno has to duck down under Corpse’s arm to slip between him and the door as he steps inside. Corpse holds his breath for a moment as Sykkuno’s body slips against his side, sending a jolt through him.

“You know what you want?” Corpse asks quietly as he and Sykkuno stroll to find their spot in line.

“Yeah, a macchiato and one of those ham panini’s I think. I didn’t eat much before I left.”

When it’s their turn, Sykkuno steps up to order but Corpse side-steps in front of him, quietly giving the employee both of their orders and inserting his debit card.

“You don’t have to pay for mine Corpse!” Sykkuno pleads.

“You drove up here Sy, paying for your food is like, the smallest thing I can do to thank you.”

Sykkuno blushes but nods, letting Corpse handle it. He takes a few steps to grab napkins and straws for the both of them, doing his small part to say thank you.

Corpse joins him a moment later as they wait for their order to be called.

“It’s not too cold out really, you cool with eating and walking? There’s a park on the way back to my place, we could wander around for a bit?” Corpse asks.

“Oh! Yeah, that sounds good to me. “

“By the way, you didn’t cover your mouth earlier when you were laughing.” Corpse says, purposefully looking away from Sykkuno.

“Oh. Uh, I guess I didn’t think about it.”

“It’s uh. It’s nice. You should do whatever you feel cool with but you…you have a really nice smile Sykkuno. You shouldn’t feel weird about showing it. It’s a great smile.”

These must be the warm fuzzy feelings everyone talks about in his Grandmother’s Hallmark movies. His heart is pounding at Corpse’s compliment. He goes to thank Corpse, mentally reminding himself to keep his hands to his side.

“Thank you Corpse. That’s nice of you to say,” is what he settles on saying with a smile, and when Corpse turns back to meet his eye he can see Corpse’s eyes widen at the sight of his uncovered smile yet again.

When their order is called Corpse grabs their items, hands Sykkuno his drink and steers him outside. This time Sykkuno skips in front of Corpse to hold the door, and Corpse is overwhelmed by the feeling of pure affection surging through him.

As they head down the street toward the small park, Sykkuno finally allows himself to relax a bit and enjoy the situation he’s in. He’s walking through a park with Corpse, one of the coolest people he’s ever met, hanging out and having fun. A year ago he never thought he’d have a friend like Corpse, or friends like anyone in his group. The day isn’t the best weather-wise; it’s grey and there’s a bit of a chill in the air though not necessarily cold, but Sykkuno can’t remember a day where he’s felt warmer and happier.

Sykkuno and Corpse make a circle around the small pond in the park, bookending long chats about their friends and new games they could all play together with gaps of comfortable silence. Sykkuno is grateful Corpse knows how nervous he can be, how anxious he sometimes is when it comes to hanging out with people in public because Corpse is the same way. He never forces conversation and doesn’t get weird when it goes quiet, and Sykkuno appreciates it so much.

As Sykkuno tosses his now empty sandwich bag into the trash and goes to finish off his coffee, Corpse stops him, grabbing his hand. Sykkuno looks down at his hand in Corpse’s, his slender fingers a total contrast from Corpse’s hand with it’s chipped nail polish and silver rings.

“Forgot I got you something.” Corpse says, as he releases Sykkuno’s hand and reaches into his Starbucks bag, pulling out a little snowman cake pop.

“I don’t know if you like these or anything but they were cute as fuck so I got us each one.”

Sykkuno can’t help but bark out laughter, doubling over. This is too adorable.

“This is so cute Corpse, I can’t believe you.” He laughs, reaching to take his pop out of Corpse’s hand. Corpse chuckles, letting Sykkuno know he’s glad he enjoys it.

Sykkuno straightens and looks at Corpse in his all-black getup while holding a snowman cake pop, completely overwhelmed by the supreme cuteness of it all. He whips his phone out and jokes at Corpse to pose, which he surprisingly does. Sykkuno takes a few photos, immediately moving the ones that contain Corpse’s face into a hidden folder on his phone. He keeps one last photo, quickly editing it so it only shows from Corpse’s chest down, hand hanging on tightly to the Snowman, and flips his phone in Corpse’s direction.

“Should I troll our group chat with this?” He asks, making sure Corpse can see the edited photo.

Corpse squints at the screen for a second and laughs.

“Yeah man, go for it. You really have gotten more devious, I love it.” Corpse replies, lifting to bite at his treat.

Sykkuno shrugs, giggling. “What can I say? I’ve been corrupted.” He says under his breath as he pulls up Discord, ignoring the slew of comments asking what he and Corpse are doing to simply post to the group and exit the app.

As he looks back up at Corpse, he takes in the dark look in his eyes; he hasn’t seen that look yet today.

“Everything okay?” Sykkuno inquires.

Corpse shakes his head a little as if trying to snap out of his thoughts.

“All good yeah, just a little worn out. You cool with heading back home?”

Sykkuno nods, and the pair set up off on a quiet stroll back to Corpse’s place. His home. Sykkuno wonders what it would be like to have a home with someone, a place where he can feel like himself all the time, with an office or streaming room just for him. A room where he can act up for the camera and stream for people, but then leave it all behind when the stream ends. Where he doesn’t need to be Sykkuno all the time and he can just be some guy on the couch with his boyfriend.

_Boyfriend._

That popped into his head without much thought. His brain fills the idea into his consciousness and now all he can think about on the walk home is having a home like this, a place for him to exist with his boyfriend. A boyfriend who, in his brain, seems to be Corpse. It’s an overwhelming feeling, a daydream he doesn’t allow himself to dwell in often, but a happy one nonetheless. Maybe this will be the only time they hang out in person, but Sykkuno is going to relive this daydream over and over for the next few days.

As Sykkuno and Corpse approach Corpse’s front door, the sun begins to set. Sykkuno isn’t sure if it’s appropriate to ask if Corpse is okay with him staying longer or if he should go ahead and excuse himself so Corpse can get some much-needed rest. As he contemplates what to say, Corpse opens his front door and guides Sykkuno inside. Sykkuno follows his lead, guessing Corpse wouldn’t continue to invite him in unless he genuinely wants him there. As they discard their coats, Corpse removes his mask at last. Sykkuno’s eyes are drawn away from how handsome Corpse looks to where he left Corpse’s gift, wrapped and tucked up in the corner next to the pile of fairy lights.

“Oh! The lights! Are you still okay with us hanging them together?” Sykkuno asks as he drops to his knees, already pulling at a loose end to try and loop it through the pile.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’d be cool. I think Rae is streaming, should we put it on while we mess with these?” Corpse asks, grabbing the remote off his couch and navigating to YouTube.

Sykkuno makes a noise of agreement as he pulls the knotted pile of lights toward Corpse’s couch, already separating sections as Corpse gets the stream going, turning up the volume.

They laugh to themselves as Rae and the crew navigate through Among Us while they themselves navigate the unruly pile of lights. Ten minutes into working they’ve gotten the first strand completely unraveled and are halfway through the second when they hear their names over Rae’s stream.

“Where’s Corpse and Sykkuno today?! Neither of them has tweeted or streamed all day!” Rae reads out a question from her chat before cackling.

“GUYS! Someone in my chat asked where Corpse and Sykkuno are!” The proximity lobby all begin laughing and screeching in unison.

“They’re hanging out today!” Brooke yells, “Which is good for me today because if Sykkuno lures me onto a vent again I’m going to lose my mind.”

“Do you think they’re both just sitting next to one another not making eye contact and awkwardly complimenting each other? Because that shit would be CUTE.” Peter adds, running in circles around Rae to annoy her.

“I mean, if they’re smart they’ve already boned like three times by now.” Adds Edison as Leslie screams at him.

Sykkuno chokes a little at that, letting out a quiet “Eeh” as he does so, his hand shaking a little as he loops the last knot through itself. His hand bumps into Corpse who is working at pulling the strands through. Corpse’s fingers catch over his own and Sykkuno freezes. He is not going to move and mess this up. Corpse doesn’t move either, his hands shaking just slightly. Sykkuno would have never noticed if Corpse’s fingertips weren’t pressing lightly onto his knuckles, but he can feel every move, every subtle vibration that passes through Corpse as they sit in silence together.

“Stooooop you guys, let Corpse and Sykkuno enjoy their date!” Poki yells to the group as she runs by.

“WAIT are they on an actual date?!” Jodi asks, her character turning to chase after Poki.

“You know Toast has a date tonight too!” Ludwig screams, distracting everyone and getting their attention back to the game.

“Psh suuuuure. With who?” Tina asks.

“WITH DEATH!!!!!” Ludwig yells as he kills Toast in-game to a chorus of frenzied screaming, Edison breaking out his patented “OH JESUS” Sykkuno impression as chaos rules.

The screams break the moment between Corpse and Sykkuno as Sykkuno can’t help but laugh over how ridiculously dumb their friends are. He laughs but leaves his hand where it is, turning his head to look at the TV as the lobby descends into chaos.

“Jesus, Ludwig went all-in on that one,” Corpse says.

“He’s so funny,” Sykkuno adds. “I’m glad he joined our group of friends.”

“Yeah, Ludwig is cool as fuck. Good dude.”

There’s a beat of quiet while they watch Ludwig try to talk his way out of being ejected. Corpse shifts, pulling his hand away from Sykkuno, and Sykkuno can’t help but be slightly disappointed at it.

“Speaking of good shit, these look pretty great now. Ready to hang them?” Corpse asks. Sykkuno nods, standing and dusting himself off, looking around the room to appraise the best way to approach this.

“If you have a chair and maybe some pushpins I think we can just plug them in where you want and then work our way around?” Sykkuno suggests. Corpse mutters in agreement and heads to the kitchen to grab what they need.

Moments later when Corpse has everything they need, Sykkuno offers to climb up on the chair and adjust the lights as they go as Corpse hands them up to him. They plug the lights into one corner of the room and slowly pin, working their way around. Once they reach the next corner, Sykkuno has to lean up and forward a little bit more, reaching as high as he can to get the pins and cord in place. He reaches his left hand down to get another pin from Corpse who doesn’t respond. Sykkuno moves his hand back further, thinking Corpse just hasn’t noticed him before he looks down to get Corpse’s attention.

He definitely has Corpse’s attention, just not in the way he assumed. Corpse is currently standing to the side of the chair, staring directly at the expanse of skin on display as Sykkuno’s shirt rides up while he stretches. Sykkuno can feel his body burning with a million emotions upon seeing Corpse just openly checking him out like this. It takes all his nerve not to remove his arm and shift to pull his shirt down out of embarrassment, but he hasn’t felt like this in his entire life. He’s never experienced the feeling of being blatantly checked out, much less by someone he’s dreamed of looking at him this way, and it’s amazing. He feels like he’s floating.

But god his arm is starting to get tired.

He could call out to Corpse, wake him out of wherever his brain has taken him at this moment, but with Corpse _kinda? Actually? Sorta?_ flirting with him, maybe he should be brave too.

Sykkuno moves his left hand from its open position to Corpse’s hair, lightly pushing back a few strands with his pointer and middle fingers. Corpse’s head jerks up immediately, eyes wide upon being caught. Sykkuno smiles down at him, big and wide, hands completely unable to cover his face even if he wanted to.

“Sorry Sy, I…I wasn’t paying attention.”

Sykkuno snorts, “Yeah, I noticed. It’s fine. It’s all…fine. I don’t mind.”

Corpse’s words get stuck in his throat.

“You…don’t mind?”

Sykkuno shakes his head, still smiling down at Corpse.

“No. You can, um, look at me whenever you want you know? Anytime.”

Corpse’s eyes are dark again, the same look he gave him at the park earlier. He can tell Corpse wants to say something but his right arm can’t take it anymore.

“Actually uh, could I have a pin? My arm is kinda falling asleep up here. We only need like three more!” He exclaims to Corpse whose eyes clear as he leans down to grab the pins Sykkuno needs.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Sykkuno takes them in his hand, noticing the way Corpse drags his fingers over Sykkuno’s inner wrist before letting go. That was 100% on purpose. There was no way Corpse could pretend he did that on accident.

Leaning on his tiptoes just a bit, Sykkuno stretches the best he can. He can reach pretty easily if he’s honest, but if seeing just a tiny bit of skin makes Corpse react to him like this, Sykkuno is pretty sure he can stretch his hands up forever if need be. He secures the last section of lights, resting his arms at his sides and shaking them out as he finishes. He jumps off the chair, landing with a soft ‘eeh’ and looking up to take in the newly lit room.

Everything looks softer with the lights up, sparkling around the room. They’re pretty and not overly bright, just a soft, dull light illuminating the dark corners of Corpse’s home. Sykkuno turns to look at Corpse to celebrate their work to find Corpse already looking at him. The dark-eyed look of before is gone, replaced by the softest look Sykkuno can ever recall being aimed his way. Corpse looks incredible like this, all his darkness softly highlighted in the glow of the red and white lights casting downward onto them.

“It’s pretty isn’t it Corpse?” Sykkuno asks quietly, glancing up at the lights above them.

“Really fucking pretty.” Corpse replies, never taking his eyes off Sykkuno.

Thrilled that his blush is hidden by the red cast from the lights, Sykkuno’s eyes once again fall to the present he has for Corpse a few feet away.

“Oh! I never gave you your gift! Would you like to open it now?”

Corpse nods. “Yeah. Yeah, that would be cool, I’m very curious.”

Sykkuno shuffles to the corner and retrieves the present as Corpse takes a seat on the couch, crossing his ankles as he settles in sideways so he and Sykkuno can face one another. Corpse takes the gift as Sykkuno apologizes for his less than stellar wrapping.

Corpse tears the paper aside to reveal a large white box. He looks up at Sykkuno who smiles and nods for him to open it. Inside is a variety of things and Corpse is touched by Sykkuno’s thoughtfulness.

“I saw a post online about gifts for people who have a hard time in winter with illness and stuff so I kinda got a little bit of everything. I hope it’s not too overboard for you.” Sykkuno says, nearly whispering. The only noise in the room aside from their breathing is the low hum coming from their friends still playing Among Us on the TV, and it makes for a nice backdrop. It’s almost like they’re playing a game together per usual, hiding quietly in a corner together, except seeing Corpse’s expression right now is so, so much better than he could have ever asked for.

Corpse carefully takes each item out of the box, inspecting it with a soft smile as he places them in front of him on the couch. There’s a heated blanket (‘you always have trouble sleeping so maybe it will help!’), a massager (‘the lady said you can move it around for whatever area needs the most attention’) and lastly, two knit stuffed figures of he and Sykkuno’s Among Us characters.

“Aren’t those cute!?” Sykkuno laughs. “Do you know there are people on this website, it’s called Etsy, and if you tell them what you want they’ll make it for you?! I sent them a picture of our characters and she made those by hand! I know they’re kinda cheesy but I thought yo-“

Sykkuno is unable to get his sentence out as he’s knocked back, head hitting the arm of the couch as Corpse pounces on him in a hug. Corpse’s arms circle around Sykkuno’s waist, holding tightly, and he buries himself in the space between Sykkuno’s neck and shoulder.

“You are fucking unreal.” Corpse finally mutters, and Sykkuno shivers at the feeling of Corpse’s breath against his skin.

“Oh. Um. Thank you. You’re unreal too?” Sykkuno replies, hoping that unreal is a compliment.

Corpse snorts against Sykkuno’s neck, still clinging.

“Hey Corpse?”

Corpse makes a noise, one Sykkuno can only assume translates to ‘yes wonderful Sykkuno, what can I do for you?’

“I don’t want to move, but can we just shift a little? I think my neck might snap.” Sykkuno is trying his best to keep his head steady but the angle is way, way too uncomfortable to stand for another minute.

“Oh shit. Shit yeah, I’m sorry.”

Corpse moves to shift up and off of Sykkuno, only for Sykkuno to wrap his arms around Corpse’s waist this time.

“It’s fine. I just need to move my neck is all.”

Sykkuno shifts forward a bit, getting to a good space to let his head fall flat onto the couch, cushioned by whatever is currently shoved under him on the couch. It feels like it might be one of Corpse’s hoodies, but he’s not entirely sure.

Sykkuno’s hands rest lightly on Corpse’s waist as Corpse hovers above him, looking down with curls sweeping into his eyes.

“You can lay back down if you want.” Sykkuno offers, “If you feel comfortable. It’s okay if you don’t.”

Corpse smiles softly, “Naw, I’d rather do something else.”

Sykkuno’s heart falls for a moment, worrying he misread the situation. He thought Corpse was trying to get closer to him, maybe even make a move, but the last thing he wants is to push him in a direction he isn’t interested in.

“Oh.” Replies Sykkuno, trying to keep his voice from betraying him. “Would you wanna order dinner or something instead? I still haven’t had that Vegan Meat Lovers Pizza! We could watch Rae stream while we eat!?” Sykkuno offers anything that comes to his mind that allows him to spend more time here in Corpse’s home.

“I have a different idea. If you’re okay with it…”

Sykkuno shrugs. “Sure. I’m pretty much down for anything you want to do, Corpse!”

Corpse chuckles, “Oh Sy, don’t say that.”

Seconds later, before Sykkuno can even formulate a response, Corpse drops from where he was holding himself up down to his forearms, making eye contact with Sykkuno. Sykkuno holds his breath, desperately hoping this is going where he thinks it is and makes an effort to lift his head off the couch just a bit. It’s enough to brush it off as only shifting if he’s wrong, but if he’s right, hopefully, Corpse catches onto him being on the same page. It only takes a split-second for Corpse to catch Sykkuno’s eye, confirm he’s okay from a look, and press his lips to Sykkuno’s.

Sykkuno’s eye flutter closed as Corpse presses against him, barely moving. Sykkuno has never been kissed like this, to be fair, he's barely been kissed at all, but that’s beside the point. Corpse rests one hand just to the side of Sykkuno’s head, close enough for this thumb to softly brush at Sykkuno’s cheekbone as they kiss. It’s soft, almost simply a breath against his lips, but Sykkuno needs more. He leans further up into Corpse, not wanting to move this too quickly but enough to make sure they’re on the same page. As they pull away for breath, Sykkuno inhales sharply, tilting his head to push his lips to Corpse this time. They stay in that position for a while, simply enjoying being in one another’s personal space until Corpse pulls back just enough to rest his forehead against Sykkuno’s.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Corpse replies, as breathless as Sykkuno.

“That was…”

“Nice?” Corpse offers.

Sykkuno hums in agreement for a moment before speaking.

“No, actually.”

“Um. Shit. Sorry. If you-“ Corpse stutters, immediately going to push himself up and off Sykkuno.

“Corpse,” Sykkuno says, holding him into place with one hand, using the other to tilt Corpse’s chin so they’re looking at one another.

“Yeah, Sy?”

“That was….fucking amazing.”

Sykkuno is pretty sure Corpse might be short-circuiting. For a full minute Corpse blinks at him wordlessly, opening his mouth to start sentences only for no words to form.

“Uh. Corpse, are you-“

Corpse must have a weird thing for interrupting Sykkuno because again Sykkuno finds himself taken aback by Corpse’s forwardness. He falls back yet again as Corpse pulls him into a crushing kiss, one much more frantic and intense than the first. Sykkuno opens his mouth for a moment to get some air and Corpse takes advantage, quickly sliding his tongue to meet Sykkuno’s cautiously. No one ever told him kissing felt like _THIS_. Sykkuno thought the fire he felt earlier, the intense heat of blush across his face, was going to be the epitome of his evening but this, this feeling of Corpse pressing into him, his tongue swiping back and forth between Sykkuno’s own and his lips, has Sykkuno positively ascending to the heavens.

Corpse finally pulls away to breathe but doesn’t relinquish his onslaught of Sykkuno, only moving from his mouth to growl in his ear.

“Sykkuno if you swear again I don’t know what I’ll do. I’m so fucking weak for you.” He groans into Sykkuno’s neck, pausing between every few words to drop a light kiss. Sykkuno realizes from this action he really, really has a thing for Corpse’s mouth and hands at his neck.

“I.” Sykkuno starts, breathless. Corpse nips at Sykkuno’s ear right as he goes to speak and Sykkuno can’t even find himself to be embarrassed about the noise he lets out at the sensation.

“Oh my god Corpse,” he whines, which only seems to spur Corpse on.

“Holy fuck Sy, please do that again,”

Sykkuno’s not exactly sure what he did but he tries to turn his brain off and simply enjoy the sensations running through him. Corpse nips at him again, this time at the smooth skin on Sykkuno’s neck, just below his ear.

“Corpse, fuck Corpse that feels so good.”

Corpse groans himself and tears his mouth away from Sykkuno’s neck to kiss him properly once again.

“Could kiss you for days Sy. For fucking ages. For fucking ever.”

Sykkuno knows they need to stop. They need to at least slow this down so they can talk a little about what expectations they have, but he doesn’t want to stop kissing Corpse for a second. Thankfully, Corpse seems to gather his wits, and lifts himself back upon his hands, hovering over Sykkuno.

“Fuck you look so goddamn amazing Sykkuno.”

Sykkuno looks up at Corpse, hair falling in his eyes, the light muscles in his arms defined as they hold him up. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen anyone look so beautiful and so sexy all at once.

“You’re beautiful Corpse,” is what Sykkuno ends up replying with, and Corpse laughs, smiling as he leans back down to drop a kiss to Sykkuno’s nose.

“Cute as fuck.” Corpse mutters, pushing himself back up to rest on his knees. Sykkuno takes his move as permission to sit up as well, and the two sit facing one another, smiling shyly.

“Well.” Corpse begins. “This has been an interesting day.”

Sykkuno chuckles in return. “The best day.”

Corpse’s eyes soften at that.

“So, you’re okay with this then? With us…kissing and stuff? We don’t have to do anything else right now, but. Fuck Sy, you want this too right? Like for us to…be together? For real?” Corpse’s voice has dropped to a near whisper and Sykkuno is pretty sure he’s feeling shy. Sometimes Corpse gets shyer than Sykkuno himself does, and Sykkuno finds it unbelievably adorable.

“Yes. Absolutely. I don’t um. I don’t have much, or like any experience with this stuff but I’d really like to try? If you want to?” Sykkuno admits, nodding his head mostly to assure himself.

“Yes.” Corpse says, breathlessly, as if he’s been holding his breath since he stopped talking last.

“Yeah, we should definitely at least try.”

“And kiss some more,” Sykkuno adds with a smile.

“Oh absolutely. Look at you all corrupted and shit.”

Sykkuno laughs, shifting from his place on the couch to rise to his knees in front of Corpse this time. He leans in and kisses Corpse sweetly, just a light closed mouth kiss that hopefully expresses at least a little of what he wants to say. Corpse wraps an arm around Sykkuno’s waist as they kiss, pulling him in.

“I hope you enjoyed your Christmas present.” Corpse mutters against Sykkuno’s lips.

“Hmm? Wait what was my present?” Asks Sykkuno, not stopping to speak but instead speaking between kisses.

“Oh um. I was doing a bad job at making it obvious, huh?” Corpse replies quietly.

“The last stream you said, uh, you wanted a date at Christmas. So I figured if this went well, this would be our first date.” Corpse finishes, looking up at Sykkuno through his mess of curls.

“Oh my god.” Sykkuno whines, leaning in and resting his head on Corpse’s shoulder.

“Is that…is that okay?” Asks Corpse, burying his nose into Sykkuno’s hair.

Sykkuno nods before he realizes he should use words.

“Yep. Yeah, I am very, very okay.”

“I know it’s not as nice as all those movies and stuff but I’m not great at all the fancy romance and I-,” Corpse tries to finish his train of thought, only to be thwarted by Sykkuno pressing him back into the couch this time, his lips on Corpse’s neck.

Corpse groans and the sound shoots straight through Sykkuno. It feels as though every nerve of his body is standing at command at the sound of Corpse’s soft whine and deep moans. Sykkuno isn’t quite sure what he’s doing is right, so he simply attempts to mimic what Corpse did to him and lightly brushes his lips across Corpse’s neck, stopping to nip right under his ear. He brings his hand up to Corpse’s collarbone, mainly just to steady himself as he sprawls across the couch, and the moment his hand reaches its position, Corpse arches up, pushing himself closer toward it.

“Oh,” Sykkuno says breathlessly, realizing perhaps some of what Corpse sings of is legitimately personal and not just creative liberty.

“Yes, Sy. Fuck.” Corpse is moaning now, arching so his neck is fully on display, head tilted back. Corpse’s left arm as a death grip across Sykkuno’s waist to hold him in place and his right is lifted over his eyes as he gives in to the sensations.

Sykkuno has no real experience with the situation he’s in, but he figures he should at least give it a go. He doesn’t want to push past this; kissing like this is already overwhelming enough for him, but after everything Corpse has done for him today he makes a quick decision.

Leaning in, Sykkuno nuzzles against Corpse’s neck and leaves small, light kisses to get Corpse riled up. As Corpse’s releases a breathy “Sy…,” Sykkuno takes that as his cue to attach his lips fully to the spot where Corpse’s neck meets his collar and sucks. He’s not entirely sure what he’s doing, but judging on the combination of…um…movies, he has seen and the noises Corpse is making, he’s pretty confident he’s doing a good job. He tends to the spot for a few seconds, enough to know a small mark will form, before pulling his face back to take a breath, leaning in again only to place a light, soft kiss right to the area. Then he pushes himself back up to hover over Corpse and wait to see how he reacts.

Corpse breathes deeply underneath him, taking a few moments to situate himself before turning his neck and opening his eyes.

“Sykkuno. Holy shit.”

Sykkuno beams widely, proud of what he’s done.

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“Liked it? Fucking Christ Sy, I could die a happy man right now.”

Sykkuno giggles as he pushes himself up to straddle Corpse, gazing down at him for a quick second and finally shifting to climb off the couch.

“You hungry?” He asks as Corpse pushes himself up enough to rest on his elbows.

“I could eat.”

Sykkuno hums in acknowledgment, grabbing his phone off the table and flopping onto the opposite end of the couch.

“Vegan pizza then? We can go to our friends' chats and troll them while they play?”

Corpse laughs, fully and easily at his suggestion.

“Devious. I’m fucking in.”

Sykkuno pulls up the menu of a place he remembers Corpse suggesting and hands his phone over to Corpse to mark what he wants, gathering the nerve to speak as Corpse handles the order.

“By the way, thank you Corpse.”

“Hmm?” Corpse mutters, distracted. “For what?”

“For taking things slow with me like this.”

Corpse releases a breath and smiles at Sykkuno.

“Doesn’t matter to me how slow we take. You’re here. That’s what matters.”

Sykkuno smiles and stands up from the couch.

“Where’s your bathroom?” He asks as Corpse continues scrolling through his phone.

“Oh, down that hall, second on the right.” Corpse replies, motioning his hand toward the area vaguely.

“Thanks. And thanks again for being patient.” Sykkuno says, trailing off as he heads for the bathroom. “I have to do some research, it’ll take me a while before I’ll understand how to choke you safely,” Sykkuno states with a grin as he wanders away.

“Yeah, no problem.” Replies Corpse, attempting to add their order to the cart.

A few beats of silence pass before Corpse’s ears catch up with his brain.

“Wait Sy, WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Corpse can hear Sykkuno laugh maniacally as he closes the door behind him as Corpse sits, alone and stunned.

An hour and a half later, after the vegan pizza has been declared a success, Sykkuno texts his grandma to let her know it’s later than he thought so he’ll come home tomorrow afternoon. He and Corpse move from the sofa to Corpse’s bedroom, setting the bed up with Corpse’s new blanket as they watch Rae stream. Sykkuno is plugging his phone in when Corpse calls out to him. 

“Oh shit, I just had an idea. Can I pull a Sykkuno and troll Discord?”

“S-Sure? What are you thinking?”

Corpse grabs his phone off his nightstand and tugs on Sykkuno’s hand, pulling him down the hallway back to the living room. He moves to the corner of the room where the lights are plugged in and puts his hand on one side, intertwining his fingers with Sykkuno’s, the thin strand of lights running between their hands. He snaps a few photos to get the centering just right and once he’s satisfied, laughs to himself as he pulls Sykkuno back to the bedroom.

“Okay…what are you doing?”

“I’m posting it now, check Discord in a minute and just wait.” Corpse says, as he raises the volume on the TV.

Sykkuno quirks an eyebrow at Corpse and pulls out his own phone, waiting for Corpse to tell him when to look.

Suddenly, Rae begins to speak on her stream.

“Guys! Guys! Corpse just texted me!”

“What’s up?” Asks Ludwig as everyone waits in the lobby.

“Tell everyone to check Discord. That’s what it says.” Rae reads to the group.

Corpse and Sykkuno can hear everyone click over, pulling up their app and making sure to keep the capture off.

There’s a second of confusion and quiet before;

“OHSHIIIIIIIIIIT”

“OH MY GOD”

“ARE THEY TROLLING?”

“WHAT THE FUCK”

“I TOLD YOU GUYS. I FUCKING TOLD YOU ALL!” Edison squeals joyously.

Sykkuno has no idea what’s happening but Rae’s chat is going bonkers. Almost as bonkers as Corpse who is doubled over in laughter next to him.

Corpse looks to Sykkuno and nods, indicating he can go and check. He has over a hundred missed notifications but scrolls to the usual general chat. There it is.

5 minutes ago:

Corpse: Don’t say a fucking word about this on stream, deadass.

Posted below Corpse’s warning is the photo of his and Sykkuno’s hands entwined around the Christmas lights with a simple caption:

_“I already got him. He’s mine.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone who read this! I really enjoyed writing it and I hope to write more in this fandom if it's well received! I also hope to write more to my Librarian!Sykkuno fic, so be on the lookout <3

**Author's Note:**

> This one is dedicated to the giftee and everyone at the Corpsekkuno Discord. Happy Holidays <3
> 
> If you'd like to follow me on Twitter, I am @JHopeissoOMG  
> Please do not share anything I write on any other site or with the people I write about.  
> 


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